Zidane was set to play a charity tribute game in Vancouver Saturday, though it seems he will have to sit this one out. He suffered a back injury after picking up his kid as they watched the fireworks display on Canada Day in Vancouver.

Fans from all over the Vancouver area have tickets to see the French living soccer legend, though without Zidane the game must go on.

Zidane was instrumental in bringing France to win the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro Cup. He retired after leading France to the 2006 World Cup finals after being sent off by refs when he head-butted Italian player Marco Materazzi. Zidane later said that he insulted him.

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FIFA President Sepp Blatter had a few words of advice for the MLS this week. He complained that other professional players will now follow David Beckham into the MLS because of the timing of its seasons.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter

Beckham who knew that he wanted to be in top shape to play for England in the World Cup, had to skip over to AC Milan. This is because there were too many months of inactivity before the World Cup Qualifying matches. The regular European season for soccer begins in August and ends in May. The MLS on the other hand starts in March and finishes in October. Blatter stated that until the MLS changes to adapt their schedule to the standard international playing seasons players will not play in their league like they wish.

The MLS have stated that they understand the challenges they face, but unlike the Europeans, North America doesn’t have the best playing weather during the cold winter months. Fans find it hard going to an outdoor stadium in feets of snow. Plus, there are still a few clubs who share their playing arenas with the NFL so they have to work around their schedule since they have the priority.

Image: TSN.ca

Stranger things have happened I suppose. This week North Korea tied Saudi Arabia and qualified for the 2010 World Cup games in South Africa.

After a well played defensive game, North Korea tied it 0-0 with the middle east country. North Korea are the fourth Asian League team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup as they will be joining Australia, Japan and South Korea. This is the first time since 1966 that they qualified for the world’s largest sporting event.

Image: TSN.ca

The worldwide FIFA organization are petitioning the International Olympic Committee to help devise new rules regarding soccer in the Olympic games. One of the rules they are hoping to change is the baring of any player over 21 years old.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter

This they hope will help encourage young talent by giving them a platform from which to shine. Other rules being brought up is the baring of players who have played in the World Cup games. This they say is unfair for other teams who can’t possibly compete against these teams.

Personally I think they should implement both of these rules. It is unfair for countries like Canada to compete against Brazil or anyone else for that matter. I know that in hockey Canada sometimes decides to use their junior players to represent in the Olympics, and when they do they still win! They don’t do it to brag but because they want to see more young talent being used to further the game in their own country. What better way to get kids playing soccer than to give them a platform to play other than local community games.

Source: The Canadian Press

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England is proving that they want the World Cup bad. They defeated Kazakhstan yesterday 4-0 in Almaty, the capitol city of Kazakhstan.

England Kazakhstan World Cup Qualifiers

England has now gone 6 games in the World Cup Qualifiers, winning all of them. Going undefeated is a good start for a team set on winning the cup one more time for England.

England has only won the World Cup once in 1966 when they hosted the event.

Image: TSN.ca

The United States may care more about American Football than they do soccer, but according to recent finds by FIFA the U.S.A. leads in ticket sales for the worlds biggest sporting event.

image by zumapress

It is highly unlikely that team USA will make it past the World Cup qualifying round, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping people from buying tickets anyways. Despite setbacks in the economy 93,300 tickets have been sold to U.S. residents. That is compared to the 450,000 who are expected to flock to South Africa from all over the world. Special rates have been fixed for local residents who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford the tickets.

Not only is the U.S. leading in ticket sales but also in broadcasting rights. Again where is this money coming from? Does ESPN really believe that they will be able to make a profit selling World Cup games to an American audience. Well maybe they know something we don’t.

Image: Zumapress

Two of the biggest USA soccer stars have been asked to help a United States bid for the 2018 or 2020 World Cup. Mia Hamm and Landon Donovan have been asked and have agreed to help the National Bid Committee in their ensuing efforts.

image by newscom

Being able to host the FIFA World Cup games is one of the best economic boosts a country could have. Millions of tourism dollars flow into the host country and right now none want it harder than the USA. President Barack Obama wrote a letter of endorsement to the FIFA Committee of his approval. Other countries however have been known to personally invite the FIFA executives to wine and dine them, taking them on tour of their facilities. The US will have to try a little harder than just a letter if they want to win the bid.

Other countries who have already submitted their World Cup bids are Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia who all want either the 2018 or 2022 spots. While the Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain have each submitted joint bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Other bids are coming from Qatar and South Korea who have both applied to play host for 2022.

The United States have hosted the World Cup games in 1978. Most of the countries in the bids have never had the chance to host the bids yet. I say let them have a chance, I mean do American really care about soccer?

Image: Newscom

The United States have only just yesterday announced their 24 world cup team roster. Now it seems that they are already trying to mix sports with politics.

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The US national team organizers have contacted the Iranian National team to partner up in a friendly match. The match, while a good idea to help get the team used to playing together, may also be a great way for the US to mend ties with Iran.

Iran and the US have been in skirmishes with each other for a while now. Diplomatic ties were broken when in 1979 students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 hostages. And now with the recent intelligence that Iran is developing nuclear technology, the world is standing on edge on what will be the next move with the middle eastern country.

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The national US team has announced their roster for the 2010 FIFA qualifying matches. USA Coach Bob Bradley has revealed to reporters the names of the 24 players he has chosen and have accepted to represent their country in the world’s biggest sporting event.

Image: Zuma Press Images

Team USA are set to face Costa Rica on June 3rd in Estadio Saprissa for their first qualifying match. Then they will face off against Honduras in Chicago on June 6th. The 24 member team are as follows.

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Xerez), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Image: Newscom & Zuma Press

For everything David Beckham has been doing for England you’d think he was the Prime Minister. Beckham teamed up with Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday at the Wembley Stadium to help establish a bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Games in London.

Is there nothing he can’t do? David was also influential in bringing the Summer Olympic games to London and was even asked to show up in Beijing to accept the Olympic torch on behalf of England.

The British treo boasted to reporters that London is prepared to host the largest  sporting event in the world. Already done up for the Summer Olympic Games, London could easily accommodate to all of FIFA’s specifications. Well lets hope Beckham gets his way again, as always…

Image: Newscom